Interior leather vs race-tex

[scav]

I think you absolutely want to see the entire interior before making the decision. This is an ask-your-salesperson situation to actually sit in one.

I think the alcantara seating surfaces can be nice (I had a beautiful S4 Avant with alcantara interior), but you really want to see all the non-seating surfaces before making the decision, unless you care more about what stuff is made of over what it looks like.

Definitely solid advice, and I already did. However a salesperson is unlikely to tell you whether something is of less quality or not (probably).

I guess I fall into the category of actually caring about how stuff is made.

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[faroutinNM]

Thank you all for the incredible feedback! I will keep the race-tex, as I believe leather is going to be less popular in the future (perhaps already at the time I will be seeing the car in 2-4 years time).

Quick question to those of you with race-tex; did you add more than just the standard options, and did you pick a single or dual colour scheme? I am currently torn between grey or black/grey.

I chose the black/slate grey, and absolutely love it. The black helps minimize glare on the touchscreen displays in my sunny desert mountains, and the two-tone looks luxurious on the lower part of the dash, the seats, the center console, and the small stripe on the doors.

As for your first question, I added the Premium and Performance packages, and all but one or two of the other optional features and functions to my Turbo. Eighteen-way seats, illuminated black sills (you can opt for the non-illuminated black brushed aluminum at no cost). The Racetex B-pillar option was not offered at the time of my freeze date (January 2021), but I will probably add them as replacement parts soon. This is presumably the upper plastic section that is just below the Racetex part just below where the headliner extends down the B-pillar, and includes the elbow rest. If I can't obtain that section in Racetex as an OEM part, then I will get my body shop to cover them in black Alcantara, and also do that with the equivalent areas outboard of the rear seats.

My only real quibble with the interior materials is the plastic on the lower door frames, front and rear (that is used on in the areas noted above also). Apparently, this plastic is used in those areas regardless of the interior choices, including leather. I will probably get my body shop to remove and thinly coat those lower door frame parts with Rhino-lining, because it's very difficult to avoid scuffs on them from shoes, and they show scratches very prominently. The Rhino-lining will provide an actual step that people can use to aid in entry/egress, and possibly even help sound absorption. Mainly, it should boost the look of those areas

 

[scav]

I chose the black/slate grey, and absolutely love it. The black helps minimize glare on the touchscreen displays in my sunny desert mountains, and the two-tone looks luxurious on the lower part of the dash, the seats, the center console, and the small stripe on the doors.

Yeah, I did see that at my dealer. It looks nice, I will go for the same option!

As for your first question, I added the Premium and Performance packages, and all but one or two of the other optional features and functions to my Turbo. Eighteen-way seats, illuminated black sills (you can opt for the non-illuminated black brushed aluminum at no cost). The Racetex B-pillar option was not offered at the time of my freeze date (January 2021), but I will probably add them as replacement parts soon. This is presumably the upper plastic section that is just below the Racetex part just below where the headliner extends down the B-pillar, and includes the elbow rest. If I can't obtain that section in Racetex as an OEM part, then I will get my body shop to cover them in black Alcantara, and also do that with the equivalent areas outboard of the rear seats.

There is no "Premium" or "Performance" package in Norway. Just the off-road design package, and I don't really need that (as to my understanding I get the same maximum ground clearance regardless when I need it for the last 200m of bumpy gravel/dirt road to our vacation home).

Roof + b-pillar is about 1800 USD extra, not sure that is entirely worth it. If I can replace them easily in the future perhaps I will go for race-tex roof at least and see if I want to upgrade more.

My only real quibble with the interior materials is the plastic on the lower door frames, front and rear (that is used on in the areas noted above also). Apparently, this plastic is used in those areas regardless of the interior choices, including leather. I will probably get my body shop to remove and thinly coat those lower door frame parts with Rhino-lining, because it's very difficult to avoid scuffs on them from shoes, and they show scratches very prominently. The Rhino-lining will provide an actual step that people can use to aid in entry/egress, and possibly even help sound absorption. Mainly, it should boost the look of those areas

Thats interesting, I will look into fixing that once I get the car then. My Volvo was fully scratched just a couple of months after I took delivery because of the plastic on the lower door.

 

[faroutinNM]

Yeah, I did see that at my dealer. It looks nice, I will go for the same option!
...

My Volvo was fully scratched just a couple of months after I took delivery because of the plastic on the lower door.

It seems that the animal-free option is more popular in Europe than the US. I hope more of my American compatriots will begin to realize how much it will help our planet if we reduce our consumption of animals.
...

It's irritating that they use such vulnerable materials in the high-wear areas.

 

[Miwa]

I hope more of my American compatriots will begin to realize how much it will help our planet if we reduce our consumption of animals.

Not everyone buys an EV to tout their green cred.

 

[scav]

Not everyone buys an EV to tout their green cred.

Thanks. That’s really valuable input to the original question of the thread.
Did you know that most cars, even non-EVs usually come with interiors?

 

[Miwa]

Thanks. That’s really valuable input to the original question of the thread.
Did you know that most cars, even non-EVs usually come with interiors?

I should've quoted the previous poster I was replying to.

 

[AlexPx]

To brake a Lance for full leather: it looks and feels great. The stiching all over looks great too. For the non leather interior: I checked it at the dealer. I didn’t like the look of the dashboard without the stitching, but that is just a taste thing. But the net stuff on the seats might be horrible if not impossible to clean if your little ones vomit on it.
But I also thought of the race tex for the steering wheel, feels real good. I was just a bit afraid what a year of sweaty hands will do to that.

 

[scav]

To brake a Lance for full leather: it looks and feels great. The stiching all over looks great too. For the non leather interior: I checked it at the dealer. I didn’t like the look of the dashboard without the stitching, but that is just a taste thing. But the net stuff on the seats might be horrible if not impossible to clean if your little ones vomit on it.
But I also thought of the race tex for the steering wheel, feels real good. I was just a bit afraid what a year of sweaty hands will do to that.

I prefer to avoid animal products when ever I can, and personally after years of leather in everyone’s cars it’s just boring.

Regarding sweaty hands, you easily wash that out with a microfiber cloth and some solvent (YouTube has a bunch of good ones on this) so no worries there.

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